Mr Sandman
by creamXgrim
Summary: [sheith] Keith didn't want the dreams, the hallucinations or the in-betweens. He didn't want "Shiro" to do these things to him, to embarrass him so much and make him feel so strange, but to be honest, he's not sure if he wants it to stop.
1. chapter 1

_Mr Sandman_

 _1_

"Let's watch a horror movie, they said, it's gonna be _fun_ , they said…"

Keith rolls his eyes for what's probably the millionth time that day, and sighs deeply. With all the eye rolling exercises he's been doing, his optical nerves are going to be bulkier than Shiro's goddamned biceps - courtesy of Lance.

"You do realize we're still watching the intro, right? Like, the title's still showing?" Keith asks, just to make sure, but promptly regrets his choice to speak as Lance goes on and on about how he's not scared but _Keith?_ Oh, Keith is _totally_ about to piss his pants with the spooky title and whatnot.

The red paladin rolls his eyes again, actually hoping for a moment that they'll be stuck to the back of his head so he'll be unable to stare at Lance's teasing face for another second. Why were they even allowed to sit beside each other?

"Okay, that's enough, you two," Pidge interrupts, "I didn't go through all that trouble customizing the ship's system to play this thing for you dummies to go and ruin it over silly fighting."

Keith really did see Pidge busy all day long setting up things for their movie night. While she worked on the systems, Hunk had collected pillows and sweets from who knows where, and transformed the generic room into something cozy and relaxing, almost like a living room without a couch.

While Keith agreeds with a small truce, Lance continues to provoke. "Want me to hold your hand, Keith?" he asks with a cocked eyebrow and a smirk, while pretending his whole body isn't trembling as much as an active tectonic plate, if not more.

"Can someone please keep him quiet? I have a way to do it but it involves a trip to outer space without a suit."

"That's bullying!" Lance yells with a finger pointing accusingly to Keith.

"It's... murder, actually, so we really should find another way," comes Shiro's amused voice from above them. The captain, smiling, points to the other side of the room, focusing his gaze on Lance. "Shall we switch?"

Lance shrugs, sends a small glare Keith's way, and frees space for Shiro. Being the last one in the row, far to the right, the bulky captain ends up trapped between Keith and the wall. He leans back and gives a comfortable sigh, his eyes glueing to the screen in front of them while Lance makes a mess of the pillows on the other side of the room. Keith, too, changes his attention to the bright red 'IT' written on the screen.

*

It's a good movie. It's tense and _intense_ and sometimes even chilling. The mystery of all the disappearances of children actually make Keith curious and interested, but-

"Sure, talk to the _sweet_ sewer clown! He doesn't look like a psycho or anything - and he has _hot_ _dogs_ and _cotton_ _candy_! Nothing can go wrong!"

...Lance was more bearable when he was actually scared.

*

"Oh man, what a _trip_!" Lance yells when the movie's over. "Let's boot up the next one, I'm all fired up!"

"Wait, hold on a second," Keith interjects, lifting up his hands, "Next one?"

"Well duh, it's a _movie_ _night_. We watch movies all night long," Lance explains, "And the next one is Jurassic Park!"

"A park?" Allura asks from the other side of the room, her eyes glowing. "I am in _love_ with movies!"

"Oh my _God_."

*

Unsurprisingly, Lance continues with his comments throughout the movie. Keith tries to ignore, as does everyone else, and tries to keep himself comfortable around the pillows while caged between Shiro and Hunk. The latter's eaten so many sweets that it's only a matter of time before he sends them all back out in a vomit projectile, so Keith does the logical thing and huddles how little closer he can to their captain.

*

By the time the third movie begins, Keith already has his mind blanking out and his eyelids heavier than lead - the last thing he remembers is a romantic scene, but he can't even recall if it was between humans or dinosaurs, or both.

His body, half-asleep, leans further towards the right, where he lets himself cozy up. It's so… _warm_ , and comfortable, like an electric blanket that smells like fresh coffee and strong musk, and like _home_. It's a scent both foreign and familiar, soothing but strangely mysterious and alluring. Keith presses his nose over the warmth and nuzzles against it to collect more of the aroma inside his lungs.

His eyelids drop closed, and he sighs as his whole being melts down in complete, cozy bliss. His sleepy mind doesn't make many connections so it's impossible to know what he's leaning into, only that it feels… _safe_. And that's enough.

In that moment, there's no fight, no war to win, no danger to survive.

This, this is peace.

And then he opens his eyes.

The veil of darkness enveloping his sight slowly fades away. In its place, a metaphorical sun - a sweet, coy smile directed right at him, and amicable eyes that watch him with softness and care. It's with great difficulty that, little by little, Keith recognizes the warm skin tone, and the strong bone structure, and the signature scar over a defined nose.

Shiro.

His Captain's name rolls out of his tongue easily, automatically even, as a whisper while Keith huddles closer.

Shiro. Of course it's him.

And with how Keith is momentarily brain-dead, it takes him many ticks to make sense of what's going on, or what he's doing, or with whom - but, eventually, it comes crashing down on him.

He fell asleep, in the middle of the movie.

Cuddling Shiro.

Keith doesn't have enough swear words in his vocabulary to voice out his distress at the embarrassing situation so, instead, immediately pretends to be asleep still. Of course, it hadn't crossed his brain-dead mind that Shiro can see easily through the lie with how much he tenses up like a meteorite.

"You okay?"

The red paladin freezes at the words, stuttering over his own tongue in a failed attempt to speak. He slowly sits up, glances at the movie, and returns his glance to Shiro. "Yeah, I'm… I'm fine. Sorry that I fell asleep on you."

"Don't worry about that. I'm just glad you were able to relax."

Keith nods, and it doesn't escape him how Shiro continues to stare at him. It's no different from the usual, and yet it's a completely distinct stare altogether - maybe more intense, or… or more _intimate_ would be the word.

The red paladin turns his head away, but a mechanical hand gently brings his face back towards Shiro. "What's wrong, Keith?"

Any words he might have simply lock up inside his throat. Close. Too _close_. He does try to speak then, but the sounds don't come out - or maybe they do and he just can't hear them over his frantic heartbeats, pulsing loud in his ears. Shiro keeps coming closer, looking worried and curious and _daring_ at the same time, with slightly parted, rosy lips that look as tasty as they look inviting.

"Shiro," he manages to breathe out, voice small and shy, "What… are you doing?"

"I don't know," his captain whispers back, closing the remaining distance between their lips.

The touch is so feathery and small that Keith gasps at the supernova going on inside him - it's a reaction too discrepant to the soft action. His limbs burn, his heart aches, his fingers tremble and his chest fills up with what feels like liquid fire. He only has one second to regain what breath he lost before Shiro presses in again, still gently but harder.

Keith's lips part as he tries to breathe, and his trembling arms curl around Shiro's waist. The captain does the same to him, pulling their chests closer while tilting his head to the side and allowing the red paladin to taste more of him.

"Sh-Shiro," he tries, temporarily backing off, "They're gonna see..."

"I don't care."

As if to prove a point, Shiro delves in for another kiss, this time more impatient - his tongue licks at Keith's lips, parting them open and quickly dominating inside with slow but passionate movements. It's no surprise that he completely commands the pace of the kiss, making Keith thank the fact that he's not standing because damn if his knees aren't weak.

Shiro's inhumane warmth invades him as does his tongue - it works almost like a core, pumping hot energy through the Captain's chest and into Keith's. The fire crawls across the red paladin's skin, embracing his each and every muscle until it covers and comfortably squeezes his heart.

Shiro's mechanical hand leaves his back and travels slowly, with snake-like movements, up Keith's ribs and towards his shoulders. With the back of his fingers, the captain caresses the raven's arm, rising goosebumps and almost stealing a small whimper, before finally setting on Keith's jaw, where he rubs gently, circularly.

Keith hums, almost moaning, into the kiss. Shiro doesn't let him go, doesn't part and doesn't stop exploring his mouth, going always deeper than the previous movement, until it feels like he's going to swallow Keith whole. The raven claws at Shiro's back in sheer, rough pleasure, pulling them together until it becomes physically impossible for them to be any closer, and fights back with his tongue with just as much intensity.

"Keith," Shiro breathes out, not parting from the touch, "Please…"

The raven shudders at the shaky whisper, responding solely with a moan.

Shiro... Shiro wants him. _Shiro_ -

"My arm fell asleep," the captain explains.

Keith opens his eyes with a start, and the spell is instantly broken. His vision goes white for a second - and once his mind has restablished itself enough to differentiate dream from reality, he flinches - he was really just sleeping on top of Shiro's human arm and drooling over his chest like a child.

Ah, fuck.

He sits straight up, cleaning his mouth with the back of his sleeve while refusing to make eye contact. His lap is, uh, much more interesting than Shiro's face anyway.

"I, I fell asleep," Keith tries, in a low voice that hopefully can only be heard by his captain. The others seem to be busy paying attention to the movie, he notices as his eyes quickly roam around the room.

Shiro gives a small, amused chuckle. "So I've noticed," he says softly, almost like he's telling Keith that he's not angry he's been drooled on - and then comes, "Okay, my arm's all better now," like he's telling Keith they can cuddle again.

That does _not_ sit well with Keith's cardiac rhythm.

He risks looking at Shiro - terrible idea, in hindsight - and comes face to face with a smile as warm as it had been on his very intimate dream.

His dream, where they kissed.

Keith doesn't panic, and he definitely doesn't run the hell away to his bedroom, and he most certainly doesn't press himself against the door like some cornered animal trying to regain his breathing, and _wow_ , it's good to have oxygen inside your lungs, yes, oxygen is _great_.

Dreaming that you fell asleep and subsequently kissed your captain, however, is _not_.

But Keith, Keith is fine. He can handle this. He's gonna recover from this embarrassing shock in a matter of ticks.

*

 _I hope you enjoyed this! Have a wonderful week!_


	2. Chapter 2

_Mr Sandman_

 _2_

Keith groans and buries his face in the pillow as his mind slowly escapes from the grasp of sleep. He carefully stretches his limbs, one by one, sighing at the silky mattress caressing his skin, before turning around and slowly sitting up, rubbing his eyes. His back snaps like a broken twig.

Man, what a night.

He'd rather not remember the very, uh, _intimate_ dream he's had, but honestly it's the first thing that crosses his mind when he's more or less awake. Keith takes deep breaths and tells himself it's going to be okay, though - he's not some kid to be embarrassed over something as trifling as a kiss in a dream - no, he's better than that.

Groggily, he rises from the bed and moves to the bathroom to begin his daily routine. A moment later, he's dressed and ready to go to the kitchen, opening the door to the hallway with his confidence fresh and steady.

"Ah, good morning, Keith."

The red paladin freezes at the voice coming from behind him - deep and modulated and _powerful_ , and undeniably Shiro's.

This, this is the moment - Keith takes a deep breath and turns around to greet the smiling captain, with a curl of his own lips, as they begin walking together towards the kitchen. "Morning, Shiro. How was your night?"

"Lonely," the captain replies sotto voce. Keith doesn't know how to respond other than glancing at him, knitting his brows together in worry.

"Lonely? Are you okay, Shiro?"

If Keith had to guess, the answer's a big _no_. Shiro was never seen with his head downcast unless he was in deep concentration, and even then it was a rare sight - and now, now the captain faced the ground like he couldn't bear to lift up his gaze.

"Yeah… I kept waking up in the middle of the night, and every time, when I realized I was by myself…" Shiro halts walking, and so does Keith. When the captain finally looks at him, it's with a different emotion than the red paladin imagined - it wasn't sadness, or stress, or anything close to that - no, that shine, that glint in his eyes - it's _longing_.

Shiro's hand rests on Keith's cheek, and the red paladin tenses up as his leader leans in to gently press their foreheads together. "I couldn't stop wishing you were with me."

The longing-

It's for Keith.

Oh no, fuck, _fuck_ , fuckdammit, he's not ready for this and he'll never be because this is Shiro and he just _can't_ , his chest hurts and his heart is gonna collapse, _fuck-_

Making matters worse to Keith's already panicked, chaotic thought process, Shiro's eyes flutter closed and he catches the raven's mouth in the sweetest of kisses, with his tongue softly flicking at the red paladin's upper lip. Keith gasps, both his mind and body going haywire, and the only thing he finds himself able to do is placing both his trembling hands on Shiro's chest to push him away.

Panting and staggering, Keith retracts himself towards the wall, pressing his back against. "Shiro, why- We're not supposed to- I can't do this!" he tries, choking on the words he doesn't even know if he should speak. "This… it's…" The red paladin covers his head with both hands - a dream was enough, he doesn't need Shiro messing with him in reality. "This is too sudden!" he finishes.

"Sudden, you say?" Shiro approaches again, trapping Keith against the wall with both his arms. "Did I never make clear how much I want you? Or is it because we're two men?"

No, no, the gender is the least of their problems. Shiro is… he's Keith's friend, leader, and inspiration. He's a brother. He's-

"Tell me what's sudden about this, Keith," Shiro whispers against his lips. "You mean to tell me you don't like it when I kiss you?"

"Th-that's not…!"

 _"Tell me,"_ Shiro hisses with firm authority, sneaking one leg tightly in between Keith's. The red paladin shudders and hides his burning face on the crook of Shiro's neck while his fingers dig into the captain's chest.

"Shiro, please…!"

Please, what? Give him a second? Let him breathe? _Kiss him again?_

But Keith's voice is breaking - as is his will. With each passing second of Shiro's hot breath on his ear, and his body pressing so close, Keith's self control falters. If this keeps on…

"Can't you accept me?"

Accept…

"Please, let me in. I can make you happier than you've ever been."

"Is he breathing?"

"Accept me, Keith."

"Let's dump cold water on top of him!"

"We're not dumping water on top of anyone."

"You're such a spoilsport, Shiro!"

...Shiro? But Shiro was just hugging him, and they were _alone_ , there weren't any voices-

"Okay, let me handle this. Keith… KEITH!"

Screaming, the red paladin jolts up on the bed. He looks around frantically, seeing all the other paladins in a circle around his bed - where he's located, rather than the hallway, it seems - staring at him with curiousness and worry; Shiro included.

"What the fuck!" he yells, ripping the blankets away from his body and standing up with angry lava running through his veins - he dreamed again about that… _him_ …! "Fuck!" he swears again, pushing his way out of the bed and marching to the bathroom, locking the door behind him as soon as he's inside.

His heart aches as it thunders against his ribs - and the commotion in the bedroom doesn't help in the slightest.

"Do you think he was having a nightmare?" Hunk begins.

"I've never seen him swear like that," goes Pidge.

"Maybe he sleeps wearing a diaper and didn't want us to know!" Lance cackles.

"That's enough. You all go on ahead, I'll wait for him," Shiro says - and, unknowingly, signs Keith's death sentence. Cardiac arrest is going to be written in bright red ink on his obituary.

The red paladin tries his best to calm down his heart and his breathing. Counts from one to ten, splashes cold water on his face, takes a melting hot shower as he brushes his teeth with freezing mint toothpaste - and it works, to an extent.

Until he opens the door to his bedroom and sees that Shiro is, indeed, waiting for him, sitting on the bed without realizing just what his mere presence is doing to Keith.

 _Nothing_ , Keith tells himself as he walks to the wardrobe, _it's doing nothing_. It was just a dream, after all. It's not like Shiro's suddenly going to-

"Keith…"

He freezes. _Damn it._ His fingers curl so tightly around the shirt he's holding that his knuckles turn white.

Is this a dream again? Or is it reality…? And when did it become so _hard_ to differentiate the two?!

"I'm sorry that we bothered you," Shiro begins, "But we were worried. It's already lunch time and you hadn't appeared even though you're an early riser, so we figured you may be in trouble."

Well, they were right.

"I'm okay," he assures, turning to face Shiro after a long internal debate. "I just overslept." His eyes roam attentively over the captain's face and and body language, to see if he can detect anything out of place - ultimately, there's nothing. Keith sighs and turns back to his shirt - of course nothing's going to happen; what did he expect? "Sorry that I worried you."

"It's no problem, Keith."

And he thinks it's gonna end just like that; he's gonna be fine and won't have a sudden heart attack - until a cold robotic hand touches his shoulder firmly, and rises all the hairs in his body. Keith sucks in breath through his teeth and keeps it locked inside his lungs while waiting for something he can't even name.

"You know you can count on me, right?"

He just nods dumbly in response.

"...okay. I'll see you around then."

It's only when the door closes and Keith almost faints from lack of oxygen that he realizes he'd yet to breathe again. His shoulder still feels the biting cold from Shiro's hand, and it pains him to admit that his body's reacting _way_ too easily and sensitively to the feeling.

At least dreams are only dreams, and those are probably never going to repeat themselves.

Now, if only he didn't feel that pang of frustration deep down...

* _*_

 _Here's hoping you liked this second chapter! See you again soon!_


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